Correlated oxide Dirac semimetal in the extreme quantum limit

Quantum materials (QMs) with strong correlation and nontrivial topology are indispensable to next-generation information and computing technologies. Exploitation of topological band structure is an ideal starting point to realize correlated topological QMs. Here, we report that strain-induced symmetry modification in correlated oxide SrNbO₃ thin films creates an emerging topological band structure. Dirac electrons in strained SrNbO₃ films reveal ultrahigh mobility (μ_max ≈ 100,000 cm²/Vs), exceptionally small effective mass (m* ~ 0.04m_e), and nonzero Berry phase. Strained SrNbO₃ films reach the extreme quantum limit, exhibiting a sign of fractional occupation of Landau levels and giant mass enhancement. Our results suggest that symmetry-modified SrNbO₃ is a rare example of correlated oxide Dirac semimetals, in which strong correlation of Dirac electrons leads to the realization of a novel correlated topological QM.

Large intrinsic anomalous Hall effect in SrIrO3 induced by magnetic proximity effect

The anomalous Hall effect (AHE) is an intriguing transport phenomenon occurring typically in ferromagnets as a consequence of broken time reversal symmetry and spin-orbit interaction. It can be caused by two microscopically distinct mechanisms, namely, by skew or side-jump scattering due to chiral features of the disorder scattering, or by an intrinsic contribution directly linked to the topological properties of the Bloch states. Here we show that the AHE can be artificially engineered in materials in which it is originally absent by combining the effects of symmetry breaking, spin orbit interaction and proximity-induced magnetism. In particular, we find a strikingly large AHE that emerges at the interface between a ferromagnetic manganite (La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃) and a semimetallic iridate (SrIrO₃). It is intrinsic and originates in the proximity-induced magnetism present in the narrow bands of strong spin-orbit coupling material SrIrO₃, which yields values of anomalous Hall conductivity and Hall angle as high as those observed in bulk transition-metal ferromagnets. These results demonstrate the interplay between correlated electron physics and topological phenomena at interfaces between 3d ferromagnets and strong spin-orbit coupling 5d oxides and trace an exciting path towards future topological spintronics at oxide interfaces.

Emergent Momentum-Space Skyrmion Texture on the Surface of Topological Insulators

The quantum anomalous Hall effect has been theoretically predicted and experimentally verified in magnetic topological insulators. In addition, the surface states of these materials exhibit a hedgehoglike “spin” texture in momentum space. Here, we apply the previously formulated low-energy model for Bi₂Se₃, a parent compound for magnetic topological insulators, to a slab geometry in which an exchange field acts only within one of the surface layers. In this sample set up, the hedgehog transforms into a skyrmion texture beyond a critical exchange field. This critical field marks a transition between two topologically distinct phases. The topological phase transition takes place without energy gap closing at the Fermi level and leaves the transverse Hall conductance unchanged and quantized to e²/2h. The momentum-space skyrmion texture persists in a finite field range. It may find its realization in hybrid heterostructures with an interface between a three-dimensional topological insulator and a ferromagnetic insulator.

The unusual normal state and charge-density-wave order in 2H-NbSe2

Competition between collective states like charge-density-wave and superconductivity, unencumbered by the spin degrees of freedom, is played out in some of the transition metal dichalcogenides. Although 2H-NbSe2 has received much less attention than some of the other members of the family (such as 1T-TiSe2 and 2H-TaSe2) of late, it shows superconductivity at 7.2 K and incommensurate charge ordering at 33 K. Recent experiments, notably angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy, have cast serious doubts on the theories based on Fermi surface nesting and electron-phonon interaction. The normal state has been found to be a poor, incoherent metal and remarkably, the coherence increases in the broken symmetry state. From a preformed excitonic liquid scenario, we show that there exists a natural understanding of the experimental data on 2H-NbSe2, based on electron-electron interaction. The collective instabilities, in this scenario, are viewed as a condensation of an incoherent excitonic liquid already present at high temperature.

Oxygen vacancy clustering and pseudogap behaviour at the LaAlO₃/SrTiO₃ interface

The two-dimensional electron gas at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface promises to add a new dimension to emerging electronic devices due to its high degree of tunability. Defects in the form of oxygen vacancies in titanate surfaces and interfaces, on the other hand, play a key role in the emergence of the ordered states and their tunability at the interface. On the basis of an effective model, we study the influence of oxygen vacancies on the superconductivity and ferromagnetism at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface. Using the Bogoliubov-de Gennes formulation in conjunction with Monte Carlo simulation, we find a clustering of the oxygen vacancies at the interface that favours the formation of coexisting ferromagnetic puddles spatially separated from the superconductivity. We also find a carrier freeze-out at low temperatures, observed experimentally in a wide variety of samples. A sufficiently large amount of oxygen vacancies leads to pseudogap-like behaviour in the superconducting state.

Phase segregation of superconductivity and ferromagnetism at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface

The highly conductive two-dimensional electron gas formed at the interface between insulating SrTiO3 and LaAlO3 shows low-temperature superconductivity coexisting with inhomogeneous ferromagnetism. The Rashba spin-orbit interaction with the in-plane Zeeman field of the system favors p(x) ± ip(y)-wave superconductivity at finite momentum. Owing to the intrinsic disorder at the interface, the role of spatial inhomogeneity in the superconducting and ferromagnetic states becomes important. We find that, for strong disorder, the system breaks up into mutually excluded regions of superconductivity and ferromagnetism. This inhomogeneity-driven electronic phase separation accounts for the unusual coexistence of superconductivity and ferromagnetism observed at the interface.